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Mukasey Calls On Congress to Subvert Constitution (07/21/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – In an enormous executive branch power grab, Attorney General Michael Mukasey called on Congress today to authorize indefinite detention through a new declaration of armed conflict. Mukasey also proposed that Congress subvert the right of habeas corpus with a new scheme of procedures that will hide the Bush administration’s past wrongdoing – an action that would undermine the constitutional guarantee of due process and conceal systematic torture and abuse of detainees.

ACLU Seeks Answers on Torture from Former Attorney General Ashcroft (07/17/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union calls on former Attorney General John Ashcroft, in today’s House Judiciary hearing, to provide Congress and the American people with answers to questions about when, why and how the use of torture was authorized. Ashcroft presided over the Department of Justice (DOJ) during President Bush’s first term in office, when the legal rationale for using torture and abuse during interrogations of detainees held by the United States was first articulated in a series of legal memos. The notorious memos, known as the “torture memos,” were produced by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), a DOJ office that assists the attorney general in his function as legal advisor to the president and all executive branch agencies.

Federal Court Rules Unconstitutional Guantánamo Trial Of Salim Hamdan Can Proceed (07/17/2008)
NEW YORK – Despite acknowledging questions about the constitutionality of the Guantánamo military commission system, a D.C. federal district judge ruled today that the military trial of Yemeni national Salim Hamdan can proceed.

As Guantánamo Video Is Made Public, ACLU Calls On Government To Release Wrongfully Withheld Documentation Of Detainee Abuse (07/15/2008)
NEW YORK – Despite vigorous attempts by the Bush administration to block the release of footage showing the policies inside Guantánamo, lawyers made public a video today documenting the interrogation of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15 years old.

ACLU At Guantánamo For Military Commission Hearings This Week (07/15/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union is at Guantánamo Bay this week observing the military commission hearings of Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose trial is scheduled to begin next week. Separately, a federal judge is holding a hearing on Thursday to decide whether to delay Hamdan's trial and allow lawyers to continue challenging the legality of the commission system. A ruling in favor of Hamdan could bring the unlawful military commissions to a halt.

ACLU Sues to Stop New FISA Legislation (07/10/2008)
PORTLAND, ME - The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit seeking to throw out the new FISA Amendments Act that would vastly expand the government's ability to conduct mass surveillance on the international communications of Americans.

ACLU Sues Over Unconstitutional Dragnet Wiretapping Law (07/10/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a landmark lawsuit today to stop the government from conducting surveillance under a new wiretapping law that gives the Bush administration virtually unchecked power to intercept Americans' international e-mails and telephone calls. The case was filed on behalf of a broad coalition of attorneys and human rights, labor, legal and media organizations whose ability to perform their work - which relies on confidential communications - will be greatly compromised by the new law.

ACLU Skeptical of Senate Hearing on “Homegrown” Terrorism (07/09/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union urges the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to avoid suggesting that Americans of a certain religion or ethnicity have a greater proclivity for “homegrown terrorism.” Tomorrow the committee conducts a hearing on, “Islamist Extremism and Efforts to Counter It.” Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office said, “Making certain people, simply because of their religious beliefs and backgrounds, terror suspects is a grave national security mistake. We risk real harm to core civil rights and raise the risks of violent attacks by ignoring the Timothy McVeighs and Ted Kaczynskis who seek to do us harm.”

Senate Passes Unconstitutional Spying Bill And Grants Sweeping Immunity To Phone Companies (07/09/2008)
WASHINGTON – Today, in a blatant assault upon civil liberties and the right to privacy, the Senate passed an unconstitutional domestic spying bill that violates the Fourth Amendment and eliminates any meaningful role for judicial oversight of government surveillance. The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 was approved by a vote of 69 to 28 and is expected to be signed into law by President Bush shortly. This bill essentially legalizes the president’s unlawful warrantless wiretapping program revealed in December 2005 by the New York Times.

ACLU At Guantánamo This Week For Hearings On Detainees' Legal Representation (07/09/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union is at Guantánamo this week for hearings to determine whether any of the detainees accused of 9/11-related crimes were coerced by fellow detainees into rejecting direct legal representation at their June 5 arraignment.

Senate Vote Ends Mainers' Privacy Complaint Against Verizon (07/09/2008)
PORTLAND - The Maine Civil Liberties Union deplored the actions of Maine's two Senators who voted today for an Administration-backed bill that vastly expands the federal government's power to spy on Americans without a warrant. The bill also ends Mainers' attempts to discover if Verizon illegally participated in the government's domestic spying program.

ACLU Thanks Senators Who Stood for the Constitution (07/09/2008)
Washington, DC – After a brutal loss on the FISA Amendments Act today in the Senate, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed gratitude to the senators who cast their vote against the bill.

ACLU Urges Senators to Oppose Unconstitutional Surveillance Bill (07/08/2008)
Washington, DC – With the Senate debate continuing and a vote expected on the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 this Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union once again urged senators to vote against the unconstitutional bill, which will allow the government to monitor calls and emails without a warrant and without meaningful court review.

ACLU Asks Federal Court To Reinstate Extraordinary Rendition Lawsuit Against Boeing Subsidiary (06/30/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a brief asking a federal appeals court to reinstate a lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan for its role in the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program on the grounds that the government misused the "state secrets" privilege to have the case thrown out. Mohamed et al. v. Jeppesen was dismissed in February after the government intervened, inappropriately invoking the privilege to avoid legal scrutiny of an unlawful program.

U.S. Government Announces Charges Against USS Cole Suspect Al-Nashiri In Guantánamo Military Commission System (06/30/2008)
NEW YORK - Even while the Bush administration's Guantánamo policy continues to crumble, the U.S. government announced charges today against another detainee. The government is seeking the death penalty for Abd Al-Rahim Hussain Mohammed Al-Nashiri, who is being charged for his alleged involvement in crimes including the USS Cole bombing. The American Civil Liberties Union is sponsoring civilian attorneys to represent Al-Nashiri through its John Adams Project, a partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to supplement the under-resourced military defense teams that have been assigned to detainees.

ACLU Urges Senate to Reject Unconstitutional Surveillance Bill (06/26/2008)
Washington, DC --The ACLU urges Senators to reject legislation that eviscerates the oversight structure of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

ACLU Commends House Judiciary Subcommittee for Continued Investigation into Whether High-Level Officials Authorized Torture (06/25/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union commends Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties for their continued efforts to uncover the full extent of this administration’s approval of torture in the interrogation of detainees. Tomorrow’s hearing is the last in a series of three held by the subcommittee on torture, and the first time both David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, and John Yoo, formerly of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), are scheduled to testify before Congress on their roles in approving the use of torture. An important focus of the series of hearings has been whether high-level government officials violated federal criminal laws against torture and abuse.

ACLU Challenges Government's Ban On Renowned South African Scholar In Federal Court Today (06/25/2008)
BOSTON – Today in federal court, the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Massachusetts challenged the government's refusal to grant a visa to respected South African scholar Adam Habib. Last fall, the State Department refused Habib a visa after months of inaction, claiming that he is barred because he has "engaged in terrorist activities," but the government failed to explain the basis for its inflammatory accusation, let alone provide a single piece of evidence to prove it.

ACLU Applauds Committee Passage of National Security Letter Reform (06/24/2008)
Washington, DC – Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties approved legislation that would greatly reduce the scope of the National Security Letter (NSL) statute. NSLs are secret government requests for information that are used to collect private records without judicial oversight. The FBI’s gross misuse and abuse of the NSL statute has led to consecutive and embarrassing reports issued by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General. In March, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the ACLU also uncovered abuses of the NSL statute by the Department of Defense.

House Approves Unconstitutional Surveillance Legislation (06/20/2008)
Washington, DC – Following a vote in the House of Representatives sanctioning warrantless wiretapping and handing immunity to telecommunications companies for their role in domestic spying, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed outrage at representatives who voted for the unconstitutional legislation. The bill, H.R. 6304, or The FISA Amendments Act of 2008, passed the chamber by a vote of 293-129, and is expected to be voted on in the Senate next week.